In 2017, we saw some of the largest data breaches in history. We will look back at 2017 as one of the worst-case scenarios of giant corporations being bullied by individual hackers.
This surge in data breaches encouraged both consumers and organizations to become more vigilant when it comes to protecting their data. It is because of this that we began to see innovations in the technologies that support and protect our valuable data. One of those innovations was the transition to the Cloud.
I personally believed that the early movement to the FICO Cloud would be smaller firms, with limited resource, which would welcome a service that removed some of the burdens from an operations standpoint. I was surprised to see some of the giants here in Canada ready and eager to start the transition to the Cloud already this year.
Among the major banks in Canada, more than 60% that have already made the transition to the Cloud and we fully expect the others to follow suit in the new year.
There are a number of reasons why banks, along with other organizations, are moving to the Cloud.
1. Market Conditions
When changes happen within the market, your organization will want to react quickly. For example, when changes to a credit policy happen, institutions want to execute them across the board to all customers, as fast as possible. However, with the current infrastructure supporting most organizations, that has been a challenge. Currently, some organizations could take up to eight months to get a credit policy change in production, and 12 to 14 months to launch a new credit card. These processes require several different pieces to work in tandem within your industry in order to bring a project across the finish line. In reality, it often equates to long timelines.2. Upgradability
Clients want to have the newest available products and services, whether these customers are multi-national organizations or individual consumers. By moving solutions to the Cloud, it increases the speed to which companies can deliver upgrades and services.3. IT Responsiveness
IT teams are stretched thin. Tasking them with redundant system upgrades is not an efficient use of their time or your organization's resources. By migrating software to the Cloud, it ensures that these valuable team members can use their energy on the types of projects that elevate your business, expand your offerings to clients and that ultimately matter. Less time can be spent updating software, and more time can be spent using it. On the Cloud, providers take on the responsibilities of configuration, patching and upgrades on an ongoing basis.4. Best Practices
As players start moving towards, and their offerings start benefiting from the Cloud, it is only natural to assume that their competitors will begin to move there as well. The obvious benefits will eventually begin to be realized and sought after by clients and they will demand the speed and agility that only the Cloud can provide.Looking ahead, it’s fair to say that the next step will be to see organizations begin to put all of this data on the Cloud to use. Once their organizational data is on the Cloud, it can be used without limits. The data collected can be used to inform decision making across the business. This will decrease the amount of time it takes to do things like scoring customers credit-worthiness for example, or to validate suspicious transactions. Multiple systems can cross-reference shared pools of data to make complex decisions quite simple. The efficiencies added by the transition to the Cloud will translate to better served clients, lower operational costs overtime and a better bottom line.
This is an edited version of an article Kevin Deveau wrote for Payments Business. To read the full story, visit http://paymentsbusiness.ca/.
